Bulk ABN lookup without the Excel macro tool
The Australian Business Register publishes a free ABN Lookup tool: an Excel workbook that looks up a whole column of ABNs at the press of a button. It's a good tool and it's free. It also has requirements that stop some people using it, set out in the ABR's own user guide. If you can't or don't want to run Excel macros, you can check a supplier list in the browser instead.
What the official ABN Lookup tool does
You paste ABNs (or ACNs that have an ABN) into column A, click Start Lookup, and the workbook fills in the current details from ABN Lookup: entity name, business and trading names, ABN status and date, state and postcode, GST registration and its date of effect, entity type, DGR and charity details. Cancelled ABNs are highlighted in red.
Run it again later and a Process status column shows which records have changed since the last run, with updated cells in blue. For a list you keep in Excel and refresh now and then, that works well.
Where it trips people up
The ABR's user guide lists Microsoft Excel 2010 or higher with macros enabled as a requirement. Other spreadsheet programs aren't mentioned, and many workplaces block macros by default.
The guide says to save the file and open it in Excel rather than from the browser; running it from within the browser can produce run-time errors, most commonly Error 91 or Error 9. Excel also needs internet access through your firewall.
The lookup stops at the first empty row in column A, so a gap in your list quietly cuts it short. And it reports the current GST registration only, so it won't tell you whether a supplier was registered on the date of a particular invoice.
Checking a list in the browser instead
ClearABN's bulk check (clearabn.com.au/bulk) runs in the browser with nothing to install and no macros. Upload a Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks contacts export as it comes out of the software, or a spreadsheet, or paste a list of ABNs. It finds the ABN and name columns, and blank rows don't stop it.
Each ABN is checked for a valid check digit and read from the Australian Business Register. Rows are flagged for invalid, missing, not-found or cancelled ABNs, no current GST registration, and a supplier name that doesn't match the names on the register.
Add an invoice date column, or upload a bills export, and each row is also checked for GST registration on its own invoice date. When it's done you get a CSV, a PDF and a Xero or MYOB import file. The first 25 rows of every check are free and don't need an account.
Which one to use
If you have Excel with macros and want a workbook you refresh yourself, the ABR's tool is free and does the job. If you're starting from a Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks export, need GST registration on invoice dates, or can't run macros, a browser check is quicker. For a single ABN, ABN Lookup's own search or ClearABN's free lookup is fine.
Register facts, not advice
Both tools report what the Australian Business Register shows. ClearABN isn't affiliated with the ABR, and neither tool gives tax advice.
Related
Check your supplier list now
Free for 25 suppliers per check. No account required.
Official sources
ClearABN shows Australian Business Register facts and the result of an ABN checksum. It does not provide tax, legal or financial advice. Links go to the ATO and the Australian Business Register so you can read their pages yourself.